New Student Art Exhibit at the Jenkins Library, on View Through November 30, 2025
ARTIST BIO
Mena Massey is a Senior currently pursuing a Painting BFA at UH. Mena works with mixed media to create figurative dreamscapes that depict scenes from memory and fantasy. Often within her practice Mena is working in themes of yearning and remembrance. Trying to capture fleeting moments that feel symbolic and foretelling. Primarily working with acrylic paint, she also creates textural grounds from sand, paper and cardboard that allow her to experiment with different surfaces and color fields for her subject matter to live within. For her dreamscapes, it’s important to her narrative that these compositions have a busy ground to work off of, allowing deeper atmospheric space to house these fantasies.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Mena Massey’s paintings live within moments of what once was and what can never be. She balances themes from memory and fantasy to capture moments of yearning and fear. There always seems to be a precipice of momentum frozen within her paintings that makes the viewer wonder what comes next. Mena relies heavily on texture to push these narratives, either allowing it to guide her subject matter or present another layer of depth within the works. These dreamscapes developed from a need of understanding her emotions and making sense of dramatic nightmares, questioning whether it was a warning or memory. Omens of fantasies beckoning comprehension. For what will become a reality and what will stay imagined.
This Student Art Exhibit will run from October 1 – November 30, 2025. The Jenkins Architecture, Design and Art Library is open Mon-Fri, 8 AM – 6 PM. Come by and take a look as we continue to highlight the many creative and inspiring artists within the UH community. If you know of any student wanting to exhibit their work, please guide them to the following URL where information and a submittal form can be found: https://libraries.uh.edu/jenkins/student-art-exhibit